Snapped
by kermit the toad
Summary: A story about Raphael snapping and almost murdering someone...read on!


Snapped.  
  
Raphael ran swiftly down the New York City back alley, his padded feet scarcely making a sound as he went. Clad in a tan colour trench coat and a darker brown fedora he had gone to the movie theatre as he had done so many times in the past. Because of his disguise, no one would recognize him, or so he had thought. Now that he was being chased down by two "anti-mutant" skinheads he realized how stupid it had been to assume that a coat and a hat could cover up his green skin and inhuman features.  
  
So now, Raph ran. The two skinheads were close behind, and they had guns. Of course, guns were nothing. He'd fought against more guys with bigger guns back in the days when Shedder was still wreaking havoc in the city, but he'd never been shot before. Raphael was shot, and bleeding, and now he was running scared.  
  
One of the skinheads shouted something at him. He couldn't make it out but he was sure it was just another anti-mutant slur. He saw a fire escape up ahead. The ladder was lowered. If he jumped, he'd be able to escape his assailants. Hell, he'd even be able to fight back once he got the height advantage. Raph took his shot. He jumped up and forward and grabbed hold of the lowered fire escape ladder. In a single, fluid motion, Raphael was up on the fire escape and jumping back down to tackle one of his attackers.  
  
The first skinhead went down in an instant. The attack from above would have been enough to take down most men, but even if this particular man had been able to withstand the attack, a teenage mutant ninja turtle weighed nearly double what the average man wore, and that was without adding in the weight of the shell.  
  
The second skinhead fired off a wild volley of bullets at Raph. Luckily, he missed. It must have been the other one that shot me, Raph thought; this guy couldn't hit the broadside of a barn! Raph reached under his trench coat and drew a sai from his belt. He threw the old weapon at the bigot's head but only managed a glancing blow to the side of his face. The human spun sideways, clutching his face, but quickly regained his composure and fired off another round of bullets. Raph rolled out of the way with the skill that only one who has trained for years in the martial arts could manage. Splinter had taught him well, and now he was going to show this bald headed punk what else a ninja could do.  
  
Raph hollered, "You want a mutant? You want a monster? You've got one!" He lunged forward and threw a quick punch at the human. The skinhead managed to block the first punch, but not the second that quickly followed. He crumpled to the ground in a heap of flesh without breathe.because Raph had knocked the wind out of him.  
  
Raph kicked the gun from his hand and bent down to pick it up. As he held the weapon in his hand, he wondered why he didn't think of using one earlier. All those wasted years spent training when he could have just pulled a gun on all those enemies him and the other turtles had made over the years. Shedder could have been taken out in about thirty seconds if they'd just put a .45 into his skull instead of trying to battle him hand to hand so many times before finally defeating him. Then again, Shedder had survived being crushed in a garbage truck once, so maybe a bullet wouldn't have stopped him.  
  
None of that mattered now though. A bullet would put an end to the skinhead who was cowering at Raphael's feet. Raph lifted the gun and took aim. He slowly began to squeeze the trigger. Luckily for the anti-mutant bigot, it wasn't a hair trigger or it would have gone off before Raph heard the voice.  
  
"DON'T DO IT RAPH!!"  
  
It was a familiar voice but it took a second for Raphael to figure out just who it was that was shouting at him. It was his brother, Michaelangelo. "Don't do it Raph! You're better than him. You're better than this!"  
  
Raph looked down at the gun quizzically, "You're right Mike. I am better than him," he said, raising the gun and taking aim at the skinhead's forehead once again.  
  
"Raph, no!"  
  
Raphael slowly began to squeeze the trigger once again.  
  
"Raph, you're just letting your emotions get the best of you again! Remember what Splinter used to tell us: 'While it is our emotions that make us who we are, a ninja must remain detached in battle if he wants to keep the upper hand.'" Mike pleaded with his brother, trying desperately to stop him from committing a horrible murder.  
  
"I've got a gun in my hand Mike. I think I've got the upper hand. Splinter's rules don't apply to gun fights.or racists." Raphael spit on the cowering human as he finished his sentence.  
  
"Raph, if you do this, you'll give them more reason to hate us!" it was Leonardo this time. He had been sitting back and watching the dialogue between Mike and Raph unfold, hoping that Mike would be able to connect the most with his brother. Mike had always been the most easy going of all the turtles so Leo had decided to let him try to talk to Raph first. Donatello was by his side as well.  
  
"How did you all get here?" Raph asked angrily.  
  
"You're never too far from us brother," Leo said, "You think we don't keep an eye on you when you sneak out to the movies like tonight?"  
  
"I didn't think so. I didn't even think you knew."  
  
"Of course we knew," Don chimed.  
  
Raph began to lower the gun. It was obvious that his brothers cared for him a great deal, and it was equally obvious that they didn't want him to go through with this. Maybe they were right. Maybe Splinter was right. Had he gone over the edge? He wasn't sure. Hell, he wasn't even sure that letting this thug go was the right thing to do. Still, he knew that he wasn't sure he could go through with the kill, not with all his brothers watching. He threw the gun down and watched in a strange mix of relief and anguish as the skinhead got to his feet a fled.  
  
"It's good to know I've got brothers like you," he said as his three brothers helped him down into the nearest manhole.  
  
THE END 


End file.
